


Rewind

by RoadWild



Category: RWBY
Genre: Humorous Ending, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25176421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoadWild/pseuds/RoadWild
Summary: What happens when the dumbest character gets the most powerful semblance? Well, as they say, repetition is the mother of learning.
Kudos: 8





	Rewind

The Argus Limited gently rocked as it passed through the mountain tunnel, belying the terror that infested within. Every passenger had witnessed the Grimm attacking the train and were steadily losing hope. Now that this route was unsafe, people would be forced to use other costlier methods just to travel across Mistral. A sense of dread settled on every passenger as they anticipated the next few legs of their travel, wondering if more Grimm would attack. Already word was spreading that a Huntsman had been killed while defending the train, which sunk morale even lower. The situation was grim, and for the Huntsmen that still survived things were even grimmer.

Dudley Caroll howled in agony as some kid fussed over his crushed arm. His aura had shattered completely from the single hit and he felt the full brunt of the pain his broken arm radiated. The last time his aura completely shattered was when his team…

Dudley shook his head as he cleared the dark thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts. Some grizzled weirdo grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall, growling “Turn those damn things off!”

“You fucking crazy?” Dudley choked out through the pain, trying to keep his broken arm from getting jostled. “Those _things_ are keeping us alive!”

The bastard raised a fist up threateningly and spat “Us, sure, but they’re putting the passengers in danger.”

Dudley looked at the asshole, confounded. From what little he’d seen of the melee fighting he knew that the man was at the very least an experienced huntsman, one more skilled than himself. But from the way he talked, it was as if he had no experiencing defending civilians at all.

“What do you mean, ‘putting the passengers in danger’? Are the guns somehow attracting the Grimm?” Dudley questioned, incredulous. “The Grimm would’ve come guns or not. Only we can drive them off, and the guns kept us from getting picked off one by one.”

“Yeah, well, didn’t exactly help your partner _there_.” The old man grumbled.

You could see the words tear through the air, and the person they were directed at. Dudley slumped in the man’s grip, who suddenly seemed horrified at what had just come out of his mouth. The group of other kids who had assembled to watch the spectacle all drew away, as if their distance would reduce the severity.

“Well, maybe it’s for the best,” Dudley bitterly spat. “Least then we’ll have some advance warning.”

Any sympathy Dudley engendered vanished as quickly as a drop of water in Vacuo, and it startled the bastard holding up enough to make him drop Dudley. Dudley slumped to the ground, ignoring the shocked cries of anger. One dumb blond kid who still wore armor exclaimed, “How could you say that about your partner! What on Remnant is wrong with you?!”

Dudley looked into the kid’s eyes and saw fresh pain and put that and their Valean accents together. Ah. “You lost a partner too, kid? Try losing half your team. But Dee and I managed to figure a few things out. You see, Dee’s semblance-“

* * *

As Dee and Dudley confidently walked to another group of passengers, Dee’s semblance kicked in. Dee’s eyes rolled up in their sockets and his body went completely limp, sending his body plummeting to the ground. Dudley reacted instantly, dropping his rifle, Last Call, so he could stop Dee’s fall with both his arms.

The colour medley in front of them stared awkwardly as they witnessed what appeared to be a Huntsman experience a seizure in front of their very eyes, wondering if there was anything they could do. One armored knight stood up as to help, but Dudley waved him down. Dee’s semblance took time to go through, and any interruptions could have lasting consequences. Dee never used to be so reckless…

Dudley sighed as Dee gradually came to, slowly waving his hand in front of Dee’s eyes. Using the voice he reserved only for these moments, Dudley softly asked, “Dee? You there, buddy? C’mon, tell me what you saw.”

Dee woozily sat up and raised a hand to his head. Dudley leaned in closer, because sometimes Dee could be really dazed after a reset and couldn’t talk all that clearly. “There… there were these giant Manticores, you know, those things we fought with Ellaine and Mortiz? They were attacking the train and so I ran towards them then something hit me from the side and…and…”

“And? What else, buddy? Actually, can you tell me where this happened?” Dudley had to be gentle with coaxing information out of each dump, because Dee was liable to forget it all if he was startled.

“Maybe… halfway to the Gravity Underpass?” His answer was uncertain, but it provided enough of a timeframe for Dudley to put together what happened. Grimm attack. Got it.

Dudley gently helped Dee get back up to his feet and looked apologetically at the group of passengers they were just about to approach for their ‘innovative security’ scheme and gathered both their weapons. As he was guiding Dee away to somewhere, he could rest, one of the older guys in the group coughed up and said, “You, er, left your staff entrance in the caboose open. Might want to close that.”

Dudley paused in the middle of his stride, and in the manliest voice he could muster he said “Thanks, old timer.”

**XXXX**

Dudley Caroll howled in agony as some kid fussed over his crushed arm. His aura had shattered completely from the single hit and he felt the full brunt of the pain his broken arm radiated. The last time his aura completely shattered was when his team…

Dudley shook his head as he cleared the dark thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on such thoughts. The grizzled huntsman pushed his finger into Dudley’s chest, unpleasantly jostling his arm, demanding “Turn those turrets off!”

“Gods no,” Dudley choked out through the pain, trying to keep his broken arm in place. “The turrets are the only thing that’s keeping the Grimm off the train right now!”

“The Grimm got on the train regardless,” The old timer sighed, evidently tired of seeing human defences fail over and over again. “Look, I’m sorry about your partner but the turrets are doing more harm than good.”

“Well, maybe it’s for the best,” Dudley muttered. “Least then we’ll have some advance warning.”

Any sympathy Dudley recieved vanished as quickly as an honest man’s money in Mistral, and it surprised the other Huntsman enough that he took a step back. Dudley slumped back on the wall, ignoring the shocked cries of anger. The blond knight kid who who really couldn’t do much that fight exclaimed, “How could you say that about your partner! What on Remnant is wrong with you?!”

Dudley looked into the kid’s eyes and saw fresh pain and put that and their Valean accents together. Ah. “You lost a partner too, kid? Try losing half your team. But Dee and I managed to figure a few things out. You see, Dee’s semblance-“

* * *

As Dee and Dudley confidently walked to another group of passengers, Dee’s semblance kicked in. Dee’s eyes rolled up in their sockets and his body went completely-

**XXXX**

Dudley Caroll shrieked as the area where his left arm _used_ to be continued to gush blood, while some kid fussed over the wound. The last time his aura-

* * *

As Dee and Dudley confidently walked to another group of passengers, Dee’s semblance kicked in. Dee’s eyes rolled up-

**XXXX**

Dudley Caroll roared as he tried to stem the flow of blood from the cavity in his skull where his left eye _used_ to be as some kid fussed-

* * *

As Dee and Dudley confidently walked to another group of passengers-

**XXXX**

Oscar Pine stared down at his hands in horror as what he had just witnessed-

* * *

As Dee and Dudley-

.

.

.

.

* * *

As Dee and Dudley confidently walked to another group of passengers, Dee’s semblance kicked in. Dee’s eyes rolled up in their sockets and his body went completely limp, sending his body plummeting to the ground. Dudley reacted instantly, dropping his rifle, Last Call, so he could stop Dee’s fall with both his arms.

Dee groaned in Dudley’s arms, this time coming to much quicker than normal. Dee quietly sat up and pointed at the hodgepodge group of travellers they were just about to approach and loudly said:

“Don’t let them on the train.”

And so team RWBYJNPR minus the P plus another P (or maybe an O) plus Qrow(??) was barred from entry.

And all was well.

**Author's Note:**

> Had a bit of fun with this and thought a little about the quickest throwaway characters in all of RWBY. Honestly I really like it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
